Contents

Mormon Theology

Mormonism as a whole encompasses a mélange of many different religious beliefs, the majority of which are contrary to Church teaching. Joseph Smith obtained inspiration from various religious movements of the time. Campbellite, Restorationist, and Universalist beliefs are prevalent in many aspects of Mormon theology; however, the foundation of Mormon belief is the acceptance of modern prophecy. Smith and early Mormon leaders taught that any person with a testimony of Christ is a prophet. Most modern members of the LDS believe that the current president of the Mormon Church is a living prophet. Another pillar of Mormon belief is their concept of deification. Adhering to some extent to the Trinitarian doctrines stated in the First and SecondEcumenical Councils, Mormons believe that God the Father was originally a human being. However, they believe that He also maintains a corporeal form and resides near a planet orbiting a star called "Kolob" (Doctrines and Covenants, Abraham III). As stated in The Mormon Encyclopedia:

"There is no ultimate disparity between the divine and human natures; Joseph Smith asserted that mankind is of the same species as God, having been made in God's image (theomorphism) and being eternal, with unlimited capacity." One early LDS leader proclaimed, "As man now is, God once was. As God now is, man may be" (Lorenzo Snow). Latter-day Saints speak of man as a God in embryo" (under section Christology)

Deification, then, in Mormon terminology, is a system of progression by which man becomes a god. For a casual observer, this may seem similar to the Church's teaching of theosis, but this is not so. First, there is a definite distinction in the Church between God and mankind. Second, theosis is a unification between God and mankind, not the creation of an entirely separate deity.

Exaltation is explained as becoming, through the sacrifice of Christ, a co-inheritor with Jesus in all that the Father possesses (Romans 8:16-17); that as children of God we are enabled to become one with God as Jesus is one with God, inheriting the same divinity and perfection they enjoy, eternally acting under their guiding influence and authority.

While the primary focus of Mormonism is on salvation through the atonement of Jesus Christ, exaltation goes beyond salvation. All mankind will be saved from death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it is only those whom God judges as obedient and faithful, who receive specific saving ordinances (which will be offered to every person that has ever lived), and who fully accept the atonement of Jesus Christ before the judgment will be exalted.

Like many Restorationist heresies that arose in the early 18th and 19th centuries, Mormons believe that the Church entered an age of opprobrium several years after its founding. In their belief, Joseph Smith was called by God to restore the Church after praying about the correct denomination to join. He was then told by God to reject all of them, because none was correct.

Essentially, Mormons reject the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church through their profession that it never was representative of the faith founded by Jesus Christ and promulgated through his Apostles. The Orthodox Church, which as of this very moment traces its unbroken succession to the Apostles themselves, ergo is in apostasy according to the Mormons.

Book of Mormon

In 1823 Smith claimed to have a visitation by an angel named Moroni, who told him of a chronicle of ancient history which was supposedly engraved in an ancient Egyptian dialect on tablets of gold and buried in a nearby hill. Smith was also told that he would be the instrument to bring this knowledge to the world. He allegedly obtained these plates in 1827 and supposedly translated them into English via the use of two seer-stones which he called the "Urim and Thummim" (Hebrew for lights and perfections). These stones are not to be confused with the Old Testament Urim and Thummim, the stones on the High Priest’s breastplate used to relay messages from God to his people.

This translation became The Book of Mormon, which is revered as another testament of Jesus Christ by Mormons. The Book of Mormon purports to be a religious and secular history of the inhabitants of the Americas from about 2200 B.C. to A.D. 421. It claims that the Amerindians are descended from various groups of Near Eastern peoples (including Jews) who immigrated during pivotal periods in Israel’s history.

Ironically, Joseph claimed that many of these people were Christians before the birth of Our Lord. Additionally, there are other anachronisms as well. The history and civilization portrayed by Smith in The Book of Mormon doesn’t match anything found by archaeologists in the Americas. Items like horses, elephants, cattle, sheep, barley, wheat, steel swords, wheeled chariots, shipbuilding, coins, and other Old World paraphernalia have not been found to exist in the Americas until the advent of the Spanish. Furthermore, The Book of Mormon presents a people with one common language, contrary to the multitude of different Amerindian languages studied by linguists. Unsurprisingly, no evidence of these people, Joseph’s tablets, or his "seer-stones" has ever been found.

Mormonism and Polygyny

Mormon doctrine states that in order to achieve the highest state in heaven one must be living in polygamy. Many sources say that Smith had as many as twenty to thirty wives. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the mainstream Mormon sect, practiced polygyny until 1890, when they sacrificed the doctrine to ensure Utah’s statehood. Today about 70% of Utah is Mormon and around 60,000 practice polygyny (5% of Utah Mormons). Also, there are other Mormon sects practicing polygyny secretly all over the world. Despite the huge publicity campaign the LDS Church has constructed to dissuade people from associating them with polygyny, Mormons and plural marriages are commonly associated in contemporary culture. While such a practice may have been given up by the mainstream, there is no doubt that Mormonism and the unholy practice of plural marriage remain closely entwined.

Obviously, the Orthodox Church teaches that salvation is not contingent on practicing polygamy. Furthermore, the Church condemns all forms of plural marriage as an unnatural practice.